Well folksThey are at it again in "The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts." Now that the Supreme Court has upheld our right to keep and bear arms the Govener has decided to try to make it financially difficult, if not impossible,to keep our firearms.Govener Deval is proposing an increase in the fees for a firearms license. Under his proposal the fee for the license would increase from $100.00 to $200.00 and an additional $100.00 "annual inspection" fee would be assessed. Just ridiculous, not to mention what the heck is an "annual inspection?"

The contact information for the Governor can be found at:

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=Agov3_co ntact_us

The contact information for your representatives can be found at:

http://www.wheredoivotema.com/bal/myelectioninfo.php

He could get away with this if we do not take the time to make our opinions heard.

Bob

try living in new jersey. fight it all the way!!!!!!!!!!!

This Governer does not know there is another way to balance the budget: SPEND LESS! Meanwhile we are paying a firefighter to pose almost naked in a body building competition. Great state!

If we have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms as the SCOTUS has declared, then how can it be legal to charge a fee to exercise it? What would the liberals say if it is proposed that you need a $100 license to vote?

Patrick is ridiculous...

I now live in California but grew up in Massachusetts and still have my FID issued for free in Lenox in 1968 that clearly says on it "valid unless revoked". I thought getting a FID was a one time thing that was good for life as long as you stayed out of trouble. It looks like things have really changed for the worse.

The "inspection" thing might be similar to what I encountered when I lived in Japan where gun laws are strict even by Mass. standards. I had to bring my guns into the police station once a year so that the police could physically check the serial numbers on the guns against those listed on my permit. Yakuza (gangsters) in Japan are all individually well known to the police and would never pass the strict background check to get a Japanese firearms permit so they apparantly get weapons by buying them from people who can legally buy guns. The inspections are a means to prevent legal gun owners from selling their weapons to criminals at a healthy profit by proving they still have the guns in their possession. This might be a reasonable approach to keeping guns out of the hands of criminals in Japan which is an island nation where the ports of entry are strictly controlled but I do not see how it would be of any use in Massachusetts which has land borders with five other states. It will be a burden on gun owners and could actually increase crime by diverting police officers from higher priority activities. The number of gun owners in Japan is relatively small so the police do not have to spend an inordinant amount of time on these inspections but I think it will be a huge drain on police resources in Mass. where per capita gun ownership may be low by national standards but is still very high compared to Japan.

They gotta pay for that socialistic health care deal with something...

this fee got turned down the other night, which is a good thing.we already give them enough money. i think i did here that it is going down to forty dollars.

Here is an updateon the proposal from the GOAL website:

Governor's Fee Increase - The Governor's proposal to increase firearm license fees was defeated thanks to the quick action of Rep. Denis Guyer in filing an amendment to remove the increased fees from the bill. There was a strong showing for Rep. George Peterson's amendment in the House to actually decrease the fees to $40, but the Senate did not concur with the House on the action to decrease the fees. In the end the fees remain the same which is still a tremendous victory for lawful gun owners having sent a very strong message to the Governor. (See the House roll call on decreasing the fees.)

Bob